They first appeared in Super Mario Bros. 3 (with the name of Walking Piranhas, misspelled as "Walking Piranas" in the manual) where they would patrol an area and jump up towards Mario or Luigi when he passes them. Nipper Plants can hop around, making it more difficult for the player to land safely, since the plants will harm Mario or Luigi if he attempts to stomp one. Instead, to defeat Nipper Plants, fire balls or Raccoon Mario's tail attack must be used. In subsequent remakes, they were re-colored pink rather than the usual white. In all versions, a jumping Nipper Plant is just a recolor of Muncher due to color limitations.

A sessile fire breathing variety is encountered at the end of World 7-8. There is only one of these fire-spitting Nipper Plants in the entire game.

A Nipper Plant speaking to Bowser in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3.

Nipper Plants make a few appearances in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3. In these appearances, they behave much like their game counterparts in that they are capable of hopping around. On the show, Nipper Plants sport visible jaws that make them appear to be more menacing than their in-game counterparts. A Nipper Plant is also referred to simply as a "Piranha Plant" in one episode. In the episode "Reign Storm", a Nipper Plant is given a minor speaking role, where it speaks in a very deep voice reminiscent of a stereotypical drill sergeant.

Wendy O. Koopa is revealed to have a pet Nipper Plant, which she keeps in a pot in her room, in Koopa Capers; the plant had shredded a note possibly pertaining to her whereabouts. If Luigi chooses to begin his search for the missing Koopaling by looking through her room, he accidentally wakes up the sleeping Nipper Plant when he tries to look under it. Some wild Nipper Plants later appear prowling the stairs leading up to the secret camp being used by Wendy and her rebellion.

In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and its remake Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Nipper Plants do not jump at Yoshi and are much easier to defeat, but they appear in groups which adds to the challenge of defeating them. They hatch from Nipper Spores that slowly fall to earth and have no visible eyes. These Nipper Plants can be stomped or eaten and turned into eggs; their spores can also be swallowed, though no eggs will be produced as a result.

In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Nipper Plants (under the name Chompweed[3]) could not be battled. Rather than fighting Mario, they would jump up and steal a few Coins if the plumber got too close. Stolen coins could not be recovered in the final game, but battle data for them still exists, suggesting that they may have been intended to be standard enemies at one point.

Nipper Plants also made an appearance in Super Princess Peach, which were identical to the ones that appeared in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. A Gloomvibe-infused variety known as Sad Nipper Plants also appeared in this game.

Nipper Plants appear as background enemies in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. In battle, a Piranha Plant may spit out Nipper Spores into the background, each one instantly becoming a Nipper Plant. Once created, they can shoot fireballs at Mario individually which he must deflect with his hammer to avoid taking damage and to also randomly hit the Piranha Plants in the process.

Occasionally, a Piranha Plant will spit a fireball towards the Nipper Plants, who will bounce the fireball about until each Nipper Plant has touched the fireball at some point, where the last Nipper Plant to touch it sends the fireball towards Mario, who must hammer it back at the Piranha Plant who created it to counter-attack and avoid taking damage.